So, looking at the performance numbers of this Xeon vs the Zen3 based threadripper, taking into account the disparity in cores, I see that for 14% fewer cores the performance is about 15-17% lower. So unless the 7000 series Threadrippers are not faster than the Zen 3 based ones, I find this rival thing a bit unlikely. Unless of course Intel wants to compete on price.

same here, a bit disappointing, taking into account as well Intel7 "10nm" node, maybe a fully BCLK unlocked "mono" Gen5 64 lane CPU could make sense for me, but at a decent price tag only. 24 cores for $600-$700 could be right?